Smoky light interwove into brocade, drifting like incense from a censer.
And the Tai Su True Form, veiled amid the clouds, still flickered in and out of sight, yet subtle changes had quietly emerged compared with before.
Chen Heng raised his eyes and saw that the halo behind the Tai Su True Form's head now shone with radiant rays, like auspicious clouds of brilliant light, its divine presence fierce and imposing.
It was as though all the sages sheltered it, able to drive back baleful stars and melt away every calamity like ice!
The way it illuminated heaven and earth, within and without, was beyond measure!
After silently sensing these wondrous changes, Chen Heng did not dare linger. He turned and looked around, only to find the room already empty. The gold-robed elder Ao Yang was nowhere to be seen, leaving him alone.
"Embodying the primordial power of heaven to guide its workings, wielding wondrous functions without bounds... the Tai Su Jade Body truly does hold many marvels."
Just then, laughter suddenly sounded beside Chen Heng's ear:
"My young friend, now that this calamity has passed, I shan't linger any longer. Should you need any external resources while cultivating in the Grotto-Heaven, simply ask. There is no need to stand on ceremony!"
"Great Virtue, Senior, thank you for protecting me as I overcame this calamity!"
Chen Heng straightened his robes and, with a solemn expression, offered a respectful Daoist bow as he spoke.
Ao Yang merely chuckled at these words, and no further sound came.
He knew that the Dragon Palace's many courtesies had inevitably roused wariness in Chen Heng, leaving him suspecting that he would one day have to repay them with his body ground to dust and his bones shattered.
In all things, excess was as bad as